Tag Archives: asthma

Dealing with allergies over Christmas

Christmas is nearly here! Although most people will be looking forward to mince pies, log fires and a glass of fizz, allergies can make it more difficult to enjoy. Here are some helpful tips on how to manage you or your child’s allergies, so that you can stuck into Christmas with everyone else.

Christmas Tree Syndrome

Although the name sounds comical, Christmas Tree Syndrome is a real illness that can really put a downer on your Christmas celebrations. It’s a respiratory condition caused by mould spores that thrive in the damp conditions evergreen trees grow in. Once brought inside, a warm house and central heating give the perfect environment for these spores to multiply.

During the festive season, people are more likely to keep doors and windows closed and have large groups of people in the house. This, coupled with small children and pets brushing against the tree, can spread spores to other rooms. Even wreaths or live foliage can produce a similar effect.

Reactions to the spores vary but can include coughing, wheezing, sore itchy eyes, a runny nose and laboured breezing. To minimise the amount of spores you come into contact with, always wash down your tree before bringing it inside. It can help to leave bringing in the tree until the last minute too – having it inside your house for over two weeks creates the perfect breeding ground and can give you the strongest reaction. If you chose an artificial tree, wash it down before using and again before packing it away for next year. Read more →

The ID band company provides a range of medical ID bands to asthma patients to help protect asthmatics during attacks and increase medical response speeds. However, we are also interested in equipping you with knowledge that can help you alleviate your suffering and cope better with asthma attacks when they do happen.

The diaphragm is a muscle located horizontally between the chest cavity and stomach cavity. Learning to utilise this muscle can optimise the amount of oxygen drawn into your lungs and strengthen your respiratory system. Breathing exercises such as “diaphragmatic” breathing, can result in fewer asthma symptoms and a better quality of life according to the NHS.

Transformational Breath is a breathing technique that combines meditation and diaphragmatic breathing in one practice. The benefits this practice can provide for asthma sufferers as a complementary treatment cannot be overstated. That’s why we’ve invited Ronica Joshi, Founder of MindBodyFeelGood and a Certified Transformational Breath Facilitator to help explain its benefits to you.

He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1973, and later with asthma in 2005 after feeling his chest tighten up whilst out on a run. Whilst his diabetes took only 24 hours to be diagnosed, his asthma took 7 days.

Peter experienced symptoms of increased thirst and extreme tiredness before being diagnosed with the least common form of diabetes, type 1. He has daily insulin injections, but even with controlled treatment he’s had medical emergencies.

“On several occasions at work my blood sugars have got too low and I’ve needed help to recover.”